


the pavement hurt my feelings

by clari (twistedcupofjava)



Series: the moon is crumbling but that’s okay [4]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Car Accident, Child Fundy, F/M, fundy deserves better, he’s eleven, no beta we die like salmon, this is the only sally the salmon content you’re getting from this AU, used italics way too much but oh well, wilbur may not be a good father but he’s trying his best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:26:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26838187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twistedcupofjava/pseuds/clari
Summary: black asphalt stained red, blood seeping the cracks that the town never bothered to repair. the remnants of a life, left on the pavement.(that’s what actually happened. to wilbur, it’s really more of aflash!bang!nothing’s the same.)
Series: the moon is crumbling but that’s okay [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1919737
Comments: 10
Kudos: 64





	the pavement hurt my feelings

**Author's Note:**

> back with more AU content. i woke up at 6am and immediately began writing this. its short but honestly i wasn’t planning on writing this in the first place, it sorta just. happened. 
> 
> this can be read as a stand-alone, but it’s intended to be part of my mcyt black friday AU

it all started on a day like any other. 

wilbur had slept in late that morning, taking advantage of the holiday break and the fact that he didn’t have to go into work for the rest of the month. his wife had shaken her head at him disapprovingly as he walked into the kitchen. 

_ “you’re gonna mess up your sleeping schedule, you know that?” _ she had remarked, not turning away from the stove where she was flipping pancakes.

_ “give me a break, sally,” _ he’d replied while rubbing the tiredness out of his eyes.  _ “i need all the sleep i can get. those damn teenagers have been driving me insane.” _

“ _ of course they’re driving you insane, they’re theater kids,”  _ his wife had said knowingly, ladling more pancake batter onto the pan.  _ “you’ve got a real troublemaker in your class, i remember now. what’s his name again, timmy?” _

_ “tommy. the kid’s a gremlin, but he’s got potential.” _ wilbur couldn’t help but let pride seep into his voice.  _ “he’s a lot more talented than people give him credit for.” _

_ “then it’s a good thing he has you to guide him.” _

after that little conversation, wilbur had joined his son, fundy, at the breakfast table. 

_ “rest of today’s up to you, kiddo. what do you want to do?” _

_ “sledding,” _ the eleven-year-old had responded, after taking a moment to swallow his mouthful of pancake.  _ “can we go to the hill by the forest? i like it better than the one by the park.” _

_ “the park is closer, we don’t have to drive there.” _ wilbur had pointed out. 

_ “but the hill by the forest is steeper!” _ fundy had countered. 

_ “he’s right,” _ sally had chimed in.  _ “the forest hill is much more fun.” _

_ “alright,” _ wilbur conceded, seeing that he had been outnumbered.  _ “we’ll go over to the forest.” _

(he should’ve insisted on going to the park.)

_ “it’s your turn to drive,” _ sally had said when they’d all finished putting on their snow gear and packing the sleds into the trunk of the car.  _ “i drove last time, when we went to the grocery store last week.” _

_ “fair enough.” _ wilbur sat in front of the wheel, while sally took the passenger side and fundy clambered into the backseat.  _ “but you’re driving fundy to school next time.” _

_ “i already drive him to school, idiot.” _ sally retorted playfully.

(he should’ve insisted on letting sally drive.)

_ “go straight here,”  _ sally cut in, nodding at the intersection they were approaching. wilbur had looked at her confusedly. 

_ “i thought that the decatur street route was faster,” _ he had told her.  _ “it leads straight to the forest, doesn’t it?” _

_ “true,” _ his wife said.  _ “but decatur is a side road, and they put more effort into salting the main roads. it’ll be safer going the long way around. much less risk of slipping, and i know you hate driving on icy roads.” _

_ “i guess you’ve got me there,” _ wilbur had responded, letting the car move forward instead of turning. 

(he should’ve insisted on going down decatur street.)

it happened on the next intersection. the sky had been clear, a contrast to the dark, heavy clouds that had hovered over the town the previous night. the roads had been cleaned, the blanket of ice and snow having been removed earlier that morning. 

later, wilbur would try to blame the sky for being too dark, the roads for being too icy. but then he’d just be lying to himself. 

(really, he had nobody else to blame but himself.)

“—and remember the big tree, mom?” fundy rambled, his legs kicking at wilbur’s seat. “the one with the weird branches?”

“yes, fundy, i remember,” sally replied, shooting a fond glance at her son. 

“well, you know that other big tree next to it? i was thinking that maybe we could—“

and then the conversation ( _ a conversation that would never be finished _ ) was interrupted by what happened next.

a screech of rubber. 

metal scraping against metal, a bang as the car was launched through the air. 

a scream that cut off as they landed harshly in the ground, crashing down to the earth. 

sirens wailing in the distance. 

black asphalt stained red, blood seeping the cracks that the town never bothered to repair. the remnants of a life, left on the pavement. 

(that’s what actually happened. to wilbur, it felt like more of a

_ flash! _

_ bang! _

_ nothing’s the same. _ )

the next thing he knows, he’s leading his son by the hand away from the crash, his legs moving automatically. one foot in front of the other, one step at a time. 

fundy clings to him tightly, tears of shock dripping down his cheeks. wilbur squeezes his son’s hand tightly, grips it like a lifeline ( _ he shouldn’t need to use his son as a lifeline _ ).

“...you deserve better than this,” wilbur whispers, pouring all of his grief and regret and despair into his breath. it comes out in a cloud of condensed fog, and disperses into freezing air. “you deserve better than what i can give you.”

(tomorrow, wilbur will hand in his resignation papers. he’ll walk into his classroom and leave with a small cardboard box, filled with the few personal belongings he kept there. he’ll leave instructions for the substitute he  _ knows _ won’t care for his students as much as he does. he’ll whisper a goodbye to his favorite student, a boy who the world wasn’t ready for. he’ll exit hatchetfield high school for the very last time, leaving behind memories of musicals and pep rallies and friday nights under the bleachers. he’ll hope that the goodbye echoes long enough for tommy to hear it when school starts back up in january. he’ll leave, knowing that tommy was going to hate him for doing so.

today, he stands at his son’s right side. sally should’ve been standing at his left. 

today, he stands next to fundy. his motherless son, his son who deserves everything and has lost everything.)

“maybe,” fundy whispers back to him. “but it’s enough. for now, at least, it’s enough.”

(later, it wouldn’t be enough.)

**Author's Note:**

> title from ‘jubilee line’ by wilbur
> 
> yes, the first line is a reference to ‘an ode to l’manberg’ by beetlebug (because i wanted to make this extra sad). the “flash! bang!” part is taken directly from ‘what tim wants’ from the black friday musical.
> 
> wilbur - tom houston  
> fundy - tim  
> sally - jane
> 
> i’m currently working on the multichapter black friday fic. first chapter is being written, and i’ll try to have it uploaded within a week.
> 
> reviews are greatly appreciated! like seriously, comments give me so much serotonin
> 
> not much else to say. uhh stream dusk by mxmtoon and your city gave me asthma by wilbur. also subscribe to technoblade


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